Hide-And-Seek
*Beep* *Beep* *Beep* A hand slammed the snooze button of the alarm clock, instantly silencing the annoying thing. At least, for awhile. Ryoma Echizen with his tussled emerald hair and cat-like yellowish green eyes rolled around in his sleep, muttering something about his Himalayan cat, Karupin.
*Beep* *Beep* *Beep* The annoying alarm clock had returned to haunt Ryoma's dreams. That is, until he silenced it again.
The sun shown through the curtains and dappled the floor of his bedroom. It would have been a perfectly nice day and not a thing out of the ordinary had it not been for the irritating alarm clock.
*Beep* *Beep* *Beep* Ah, there it goes again. The alarm clock was persistent, as always. It had not a care in the world for the precious sleep of its victim.
A hand grabbed the annoying thing and yanked it out of its plug. The numbers 8:00 flashed across the screen in neon green once before it disappeared altogether.
Ah, finally some peace. Ryoma Echizen turned his back to the now permanently silence alarm clock to get more sleep. He was just resuming his dream when a disruptive voice sounded in his head.
"Oi, Echizen," came Momo's voice from the driveway. Ryoma's eyes snapped open and he immediately reached for the alarm clock, thinking that it was the cause of the noise. Unfortunately, he forgot that he had pulled it from its socket and that it no longer occupied the area. His hand hung suspended in the air as his body rolled toward the edge of the bed with the momentum.
In short, Ryoma Echizen rolled off the bed in surprise. 'What is he doing here?' The young boy thought in surprise.
Cursing, he through open the window and was about to tell Momo to 'go away' when he was stopped short by an approaching box of sushi. He caught it in midair and stared at the delicious rolls in his hand made by Taka-san and his dad.
"There's your breakfast. Now get down here," Momo ordered impatiently.
"Thank you, Momo-sempai." Ryoma muttered to his sempai. He got dressed, grabbed his ever present Fila hat, and went downstairs to eat his breakfast.
"Where did you get that, Gaki?" Nanjiro questioned, his mouth practically drooling, looking at the sushi.
"Baka Oyaji," Ryoma muttered just loud enough for his dad to hear.
"Che," a pissed off Nanjiro retorted in typical Echizen fashion.
Ryoma muttered something about nosy idiots as he sat down to eat his breakfast.
"Oh, and Echizen." Momo called slyly from the driveway. "If you don't hurry up, you will have to drink Inui's Penal Tea."
The young boy's face turned a spectacular shade of green and before anyone could so much as blink, he had jumped the table expertly and was out the door, much to confusion of his father and sister.
"Gaki, you should give your old man a piece of su-" Nanjiro Echizen turned around to find a half eaten sushi box. 'Eh? Oh well, can't let good sushi go bad.' He thought and sat down to eat the rest of Ryoma breakfast.
"Peddle, Momo-sempai, peddle!" Ryoma yelled as he ran outside to Momo's waiting bike.
Echizen, you don't need to be so loud." The sempai with a do that resembled a porcupine's back and violet eyes answered playfully. "We aren't going to die yet."
The freshman's hand went to Momo's ear and he pinched it for all he was worth. Angry at the thought of losing his precious sleep and half of his breakfast.
"Echizen!" The second year moaned painfully and rubbed his ear, for the tennis Regular had a very tight grip. Nevertheless, Momoshiro Takeshi peddled, very fast, might I add.
"Slow down!" Echizen yelled into the ear he was holding.
"Not until you let go!" The second year yelled back, wincing in pain.
"Never!" Ryoma retorted loudly.
"Let go!" Momo yelled in reply.
They continued in this fashion through downtown so that everyone who saw them, which was a lot, saw a screaming blur. And that was how they arrived at the park.
-o0o-
Koaru Kaidoh was out on his morning jog. The sun shown brightly and he was felling quite pleasant. Almost pleasant enough to not argue with his long-time rival, Momo. Almost. But then again, if that was to happen, the words 'Baka' and 'Porcupine head' would have lost all meaning to the Seigaku Regular.
He stopped for a breath and admired the way the sun warmed his back. Furious barking from afar caught his attention. He turned to see a great dane leaping toward where he stood, panting. And as great as his reflexes were, it was rather difficult to dodge a giant dog that seemed to have been conjured from thing air.
If only that had been the case.
Sadly, the dog was not an apparatus, and in all its puppy dog excitement, he knocked the snakelike Regular over. Ruining Kaidoh's day in the process. The dog, seeing the flattened Regular thought it would be fun to play a bit longer. That is, trampling Kaidoh.
Thankfully, the Regular was saved by farther abuse by a voice calling the dog's name.
"Maypie!" a lady in a blue blouse and jeans yelled. He worried expression made it clear that the animal was very dear to her.
The dog who was, if you haven't guessed, Maypie temporarily forgot about her playmate and immediately bound to her owner, trampling Kaidoh again, in the process.
"Fshhhh," the Seigaku Regular hissed angrily at the dog, though he couldn't help thinking that it was cute.
Just then, his phone rang, playing a well-known tune by Train. Snapping it open, he glanced at the caller ID to find that it was Eiji.
"Eiji-sempai?" He asked, dusting himself off.
"Kaidoh, you have to come to the park, it is urgent. If you don't you will have to drink Inui's Penal Tea." Eiji's cheerful voice threatened from the other end.
The tennis Regular nicknamed Viper and the top of his head shaded a green to rival that of his bandanna. And though it seemed rather queer to be afraid of juice, Kaidoh was very certain that the fear that was coursing through him was going to cost him his life and sanity.
Holding the phone out of earshot, Kaidoh muttered a "Baka sempai." Before lowering it to his ear.
"Alright," he agreed, seeing that his choices were limited to getting his jog disrupted and almost dying to Inui's juice. The former was the option most sane people would choose and Kaidoh was certainly sane.
Hoi, hoi." Eiji's cheerful voice came through the receiver, oblivious to the death he almost caused.
"Fshhhh," Kaidoh hissed in response to Eiji's innocence. His unhappiness at the idea declared by his left hand, which was cupped in the air as if fake strangling a certain sempai. Of course, Kaidoh would never do that. No matter the urge.
Straightening up and tying his bandanna into place, Kaidoh off in the direction of the park.
-o0o-
Oishi and Tezuka sat in the library, each reading their individual books. The sunlight shone pleasantly on their backs and the birds sung. A typical day in Japan for the two Regulars.
A girl in a mini-skirt and shorts approached the Seigaku captain and vice-captain shyly. "Ano, may I have your autograph, Tezuka-sama?" She asked shyly, using the annoying honorifics that Tomo-chan used for Ryoma.
The captain of the Regulars was stunned though he didn't show it. He sighed and turned his head a bit, letting the light catch his slightly tousled dark brown hair. He did all this unconsciously for Tezuka is anything but vain.
He pushed his oval shaped glasses up before enunciating a reply.
"Hai," he said in sharp, clear, Japanese. He took the pen from the girl's hand, writing his signature on a book that she presented to him. 'I hope that book is hers.' He thought, watching as she walked off towards a giggling group of girls, her previous shyness gone.
Oishi who was watching this exchange noted the stunned silence that Tezuka had for a bit. Of course, it did not matter, but it was nice to know that Tezuka could be surprised.
Bothe Regulars resumed their studying for an upcoming test in silence. The flipping of pages the only sound to be heard in the peace.
"Tezuka," Oishi said, breaking the delicate silence.
"Hm?" Came the reply.
"What did you get on your English test?" Of course, it would be a curse to talk about something interesting with Tezuka once in a while.
"100%" And it would be a hex for Tezuka to get less than an A+ in any subject.
"Oh," Oishi said.
Suddenly, Tezuka's phone rang, ending the conversation.
Tezuka's hand reached into his pocket and pulled out the phone. His eyebrow twitched furiously as he looked at the caller ID. He flipped open the phone with a sigh.
"Eiji," as a man of few words, it was only proper to maintain it consistently.
"Tezuka-buchou, you have to come to the park. If you don't you might have to drink Inui's Penal Te-" The third year's voice got cut off as soon as the threat was heard. Not that it would have worked.
The two players resumed their studying in silence. The sun resumed shining and the phones were quite, That is, until Oishi's phone started ringing.
"Oishi, you and Tezuka-buchou have to help me, and Inui." Eiji's voice wailed through from the other side. "Ochibi, Momo, and Kaidoh are going to commit suicide. He lied, hoping to get his doubles partner here quicker.
Well, whatever Eiji had hoped to accomplish by lying, it worked. Oishi dragged Tezuka from the book he was reading and out the library to catch a bus. They arrived just in time to board the right bus and didn't speak during the whole trip to the park.
This may have been because Tezuka was really pissed at Oishi or Oishi was deep in thought at how to get to the park in time to stop Ryoma, Momo, and Kaidoh from doing something rash. Whatever the reason, it was clear that Tezuka was irritated by the constant twitching of his eyebrow.
-o0o-
"Syusuke, it is time for breakfast." The tennis Tensai's sister, Yumiko, called from the kitchen.
"Ok, Sis," A moment later the Tensai himself appears in the doorway. Unbeknownst to his sister, he snaps a picture of her profile before moving into the living room where his brother is lounging on a couch.
"Yuuta, say cheese." He calls, to which Yuuta turns his head just in time for his brother to take a picture of his stricken face.
"Aniki," Yuuta whines, getting up from his spot on the couch to wrestle the camera away from his sadist of a brother. He scratches his head a moment later when he finds his brother gone, only to shriek in fright when Syusuke reappears behind him.
"Syusuke, stop scaring your brother." Yumiko scold from the kitchen. She gets out the plates and begins setting the table.
Just then, the Tensai's phone rings playing: Dumb Ways to Die. His sister glances at the phone disapprovingly before resuming her task.
"Hello, Fuji speaking." The Tensai's sweet voice floats into the air. "Yes, ok. I'll pick up Taka-san along the way." He replies a second later.
"Who was that?" His younger brother asks curiously, "Was it Echizen? Did he ask for a match?" Needless to say, the younger Fuji was still upset about the time Echizen beat him. Though, who could blame him, the freshman had called him lame. Though he still said he was joking afterwards, it was still quite infuriating.
"No, Yuuta," The elder Fuji says, patting his junior affectionately. "I'm going out, Sis!" He calls over his shoulder.
"Your bento is in the fridge." Yumiko replies.
"Thanks, Sis. Bye, Yuuta." The Tensai grabbed his bento and walked out the door, heading to Taka-san's.
-o0o-
Eiji and Inui sat in the shade of an oak. The former had convinced the latter to come with him to the park, saying that he was bored. The latter had come for data, obviously.
"Inui, when are they going to come?" The red headed acrobat asked impatiently.
Inui flipped through the pages of his data book before answering. "According to data, Momo and Echizen should be here in three… two…"
"Oi, Echizen, stop pulling my ear!"
The two looked up to see Echizen and Momo careening down a hill with Echizen pulling on Momo's ear.
"Slow down Momo-sempai!" The freshman yelled.
They came to a stop at the base of a tree, getting gargantuan bumps on their heads in the process. Weirdly, Momo's ear was red,
"Ochibi! Momo! You are here!" The red head exclaimed enthusiastically, glomping the dizzy freshman and red-eared second year.
Kaidoh should be here around… now." Inui predicted.
"Fshhh,"
The two, plus Momo and Echizen, who were rubbing their heads, and ear in Momo's case, turned to see none other than, Kaidoh Koaru.
"Oi, Mamushi, I got here before you." Momo taunted immaturely.
"Hi Kaidoh!" Eiji bounced over to the snakelike Regular and glomped him.
"What happened to your ear, Porcupine head?" Kaidoh retorted, gesturing toward Momo's red ear.
"None of your business, Mamushi." The other retorted, putting a hand up to cover his ear. The two continued their verbal battle, oblivious to their surroundings.
Data prevailed awhile later and Echizen, Inui, and Eiji turned their heads to see a frantic Oishi dragging Tezuka off a bus.
"Nooo! Echizen, Momo, Kaidoh. You can't all commit suicide. You shouldn't even be thinking about that yet. Your young minds can't handle it." Oishi grabbed each by the shoulder and shook them. "What! No! Momo and Echizen are already trying to give themselves concussions. And what happened to your ear?" Momo and Kaidoh managed to stop their argument to stare at Oishi, while Eiji stared at him in disbelief and Ryoma pulled down his Fila hat. Inui scribbled in his data book and Tezuka watched them.
"What did you tell him?" Momo asked loudly.
"He said you, Kaidoh, and Echizen would commit suicide." The Mother hen explained patiently.
Suddenly a guffaw from Eiji drew everyone's attention. "I did but I never thought you would believe it." He said between laughs.
"Che," Ryoma stuck his hands in his pockets.
"Fshhhh," Kaidoh copied Ryoma's example.
"Eiji!" Oishi yelled angrily.
"Eh?!" Momo said in a confused manner while Inui scribbled some more in his data book and Tezuka's eyebrow twitched.
"Eiji, never say something like that again." Oishi commanded.
"Ok, Oishi." Eiji said lowering his head like a child caught with his hand in a cookie jar.
"Good." Oishi slapped his doubles partner on the back.
"Eiji," They all looked up to see Fuji and Taka-san walking towards their area.
The previous argument was left behinds as Eiji went up to glomp both his friends.
"Yay, now we can all play hide and seek." Eiji exploded happily.
"What!?" Most people chorused.
"Che," Ryoma said for the third time in a row.
Tezuka's eyebrow twitched some more.
'Iii data,' Inui thought.
Nevermind, Tezuka did say something. "Kikumaru." He said sternly.
"Buchou," Eiji says sweetly his eyes widening at a attempt at puppy eyes.
'The puppy eyes. Always the puppy eyes.'Tezuka thought.
"Fine."
"Yay! Arigatou, Buchou."
Kaidoh sighed, Echizen pulled his hat down, and Inui scribbled while the rest of the team cheered.
"What's this? Everyone inwardly groaned at the well known arrogant voice. "Tezuka's team is playing hide and seek?"
The Hyotei team appeared walking towards them. "Ore-sama and his team will grace this game with their presence." Atobe continued, oblivious to the annoyed glares he was getting.
"Atobe," Tezuka greeted his rival with a nod.
"Oh, it's the Monkey King." Ryoma smirked, putting his nickname for the Hyotei captain to good use.
"What are you doing here?" Kaidoh and Momo said in unison much to each others' distaste.
"Eh? You can't play." Eiji pouted cutely.
"I think it will be fun to play a game with Hyotei." Fuji chirped in, both eyes now open and glaring at Oshitari Yushi.
"Kikumaru," Tezuka warned.
"I think it will be fun to play with them." The shy sushi chef added next.
Inui scribbled in his book.
With two of his friends against him, Kikumaru Eiji could do nothing to oppose. "Fine," he said sighing in defeat before straightening up again with a smile plastered on his face.
Atobe smirked at this much to Eiji's annoyance. "Ok, Ore-sama and his team are now playing, what is to be the rules?" He said while his team chattered behind him enthusiastically.
"Well, I guess there can be two seekers and they will have to find all the members on the opposing team. That way, it will be harder. And the first seeker to find everyone on the other team wins." Kikumaru explained simply.
"Well, then Ore-sama and Tezuka have to be the seekers because nobody can rival Ore-sama besides Tezuka." Atobe said much to Tezuka's annoyance as well as Echizen's.
"Now, let the Hyotei vs. Seigaku Games commence." The Hyotei captain stated grandly.
And thus, the Hyotei vs. Seigaku Games began, much to the annoyance of a few.
-o0o-
"One, two, three," The Hyotei and Seigaku team captains' voices boomed out in unison. Behind them, their individual teams were looking for a hiding spot.
"Forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty!" They yell in unison. Departing their hands from the oak, both captains looked around.
"Ore-sama will find you." The Hyotei captain stated loudly and confidently.
Tezuka on the other hand looked behind and up every tree nearby. He soon wandered away from his original spot and was searching earnestly for the other team.
He pinched the bridge of his hose, deep in thought, for even though the game was chilsih. He was not about to lose to Atobe Keigo, the narcissist of Hyotei.
The captain stood under a tree. The same tree, in fact, that was currently hiding Eiji, Oishi, and Gakuto.
*Thunk* A Fuji apple landed on the captain's head, much to his dismay. He looked up to find the branches quivering. 'Aha!' he thought triumphantly. He quickly found a foot-hold and was up the tree in no time.
Little did he know, that Eiji, Oishi, and Gakuto were dropping, or somersaulting in Eiji and Gakuto's case, on the other side of the tree. Eiji, however, was trying his best to ditch Gakuto to no avail.
"Eiji," a whisper from Oishi was enough to convince the Seigaku Regular to stop. The Golden Pair plus Gakuto ran to hide behind another tree.
So, when Tezuka arrived at the top of the Fuji tree he was dismayed to find that there was no one there. He climbed down from the tree and resumed his search for the Hyotei Regulars.
Farther searching led him to another tree. The Seigaku captain was tired and he couldn't think. He plopped down on a rather soft rock and sat.
Suddenly, the rock reared up. And Tezuka in all his glory fell off the rock who was in fact, Kabaji.
An annoyed Tezuka told him to return to the spot they started at and wait. Of course, Tezuka being who he is did so politely.
So, it was with much annoyance that the Seigaku captain found his first Hyotei Regular, got thrown off a rock, and mêlée by and apple.
Nature was not on Tezuka's side today. But, then again, it wasn't on Atobe's either.
-o0o-
Atobe Keigo, captain of Hyotei and a national level player, scratched his head. He had though that a game with Seigaku would be fun, and a good chance to torture his teammates.
He wandered off and soon reached the playground. A kid pushed another kid on the swings and the branches of a tree quivered in the wind.
"Now, where could they be?" He said to himself. He turned and was about to leave when he heard a snicker from one of the particularly large bushes.
"Oi, move it, Mamushi." Momo almost elbowed Kaidoh out of the bush they were sharing.
Grinning, the Hyotei captain marveled at he luck. As quietly as possible, he walked up to the bush and tossed his hair dramatically . The poor thing continued to shiver and twitch ad he thought that he coukd detect the faint outkine of shoe.
"Boo!" He yelled, flinging is arms in an imitation of a monkey.
A lady like scream erupted from the bush as Momo pushed out of the bushes in fright, only to collide with Atobe.
"Ger'off Ore-sama, you peasant." The Hyotei captain growled unhappily.
"Mamushi!" Momo yelled in the direction of the disappearing Regular. He got up and attempted to follow him.
"Oh, Ore-sama is not letting this one get away." Atobe swore as he flung himself on top of the Powerhouse.
"Ok, I got caught, Geez." Momo held his hands up in defeat
Seeing that his prey wasn't goinging anywhere, the narcissist got up from the ground and brushed himself off disdainfully.
"No! Ore-sama's hair is ruined." Atobe cried running his hand through his hair furiously. "This is all your fault, commoner." He accused, pointing a finger at the stunned Momo. "Now, I will have to do my hair over again."
"Baka, you were the one who jumped on top of me." The person with violet eyes retorted defensively. He saw how serious the situation was considering that the Monkey King was not using using 'Ore-sama'.
But the Hyotei captain didn't care and he was busy pacing and running his hand through his hair.
Seeing that Atobe was preoccupied with his hair, Momo attempted to sneak away, anime style.
"You! You get back here." The Hyotei captain screamed.
The Regular sweatdropped and darted back to the place in front of Atobe, who has at least stopped screaming.
Just then, three screaming fangirls asked Atobe for his autograph. One complimented him on his hair which made him feel better.
"Momo, Ore-sama found you so now, you will have go back to the place we started at." Atobe said, gesturing toward the giant oak.
The second year walked away in a daze as he marched off to the big oak tree.
"You to, huh?" He asked Kabaji once he arrived.
"Hai."
I told you nature wasn't on Atobe's side today. Though for a completely different reason than Tezuka.
-o0o-
Now, we rejoin Tezuka, who is currently wandering around the more tree-filled are of the park.
It is almost time for lunch and Tezuka's stomach growls. He stares at it for a moment before he shrugs and notices a apple tree ripe full of ripe Fuji apples.
As he stares, a certain sadist Tensai pokes his head out from the tree to wave at him.
"Hello, Tezuka." Fuji greets, his eyes are closed contentedly as his smile suggests.
"Fuji," Tezuka nods his head in acknowledgement before walking on. He resumes his search when he passes under a Granny Smith apple tree.
*Thunk* Tezuka looks up for the second time that day, as an apple drops onto his head. He hears a giggle that sounds faintly Eiji-like. 'I am going to give him laps when we go back.' He tells himself, shaking his head.
A giggle comes followed by more taunting giggles. Frustrated, Tezuka finds a foothold and boosts himself up into his branches, against his better sense. He hears footsteps and more giggling going the other direction followed by a faint raspberry. 'Darn it, I let my guard down.' The captain thinks to himself.
He resumes walking on the ground. He is lost in thought and doesn't see where he is going. Coincidentally, Tezuka just happens to trip over the bush Ajutagawa Jirou is sleeping behind.
"Wah!" A cry of surprise comes from the bush. An orange haired lad pushes himself up to see the Seigaku captain dusting himself off.
Tezuka looks down to see a sleepy Hyotei Regular rubbing the sleep from his eyes. 'I let my guard down again.' He scolds himself, shaking his head at his own carelessness.
"Oh, Tezuka-san, you found me." Jirou says in mild surprise. "Aww, I was hoping to stay in the game a bit longer." He sighs before walking off. "Oh well," he calls over his shoulder at Tezuka who is staring at him, marveling at his luck.
*Thunk* Tezuka looks one the ground to find a Fuji apple rolling away.
-o0o-
*Thunk* The infamous Hyotei captains rubs his head where a Fuji apple has dropped on his head before. Apparently, he is having the same luck with apples as Tezuka.
Atobe is standing underneath the same Fuji apple tree that Fuji is hiding in. A crunching sound comes from the tree followed by a half-eaten apple that comes to a stop at Atobe's feet.
This just infuriates him more and he is seriously considering climbing the tree when another apple comes to a stop at his feet.
A challenge.
'No way is Ore-sama lowering himself to climb a tree.' The esteemed Hyotei captain decides. "Come down here and face Ore-sama like a man." Atobe calls to the Apple-thrower, as he decides to call him.
A chuckle escapes the branches of the tree along with a few taunting apples. Fuji Syusuke digs into his lunch and tosses an apple to the ground. He is one of the smarter people who brought their lunch with them.
Atobe grabs an apple and chucks at the tree, hoping to hit the person. A crunching sound comes from the tree and the same apple came out half-eaten. Atobe grabs another one and repeats the same process. Another hal-eaten apple comes rolling out.
By now, Atobe knows enough to understand that blindly tossing the apple won't work. He picks up three apples and tosses the first on in. The, he quickly tosses the second one in, earning a satisfying "Oof." Quickly, before the opponent can recover he tosses the third apple in. This one hits Fuji in the head and successfully knocks him out of the tree.
"Saa… I guess the Monkey King found me." The Tensai admits, smiling to whoever.
"Fuji? That was you?" The Hyotei captain says in disbelief, he had thought that it would be Kikumaru-san or Echizen.
"Who did you think it was?" Fuji asked, fixing the Hyotei captain with an icy blue glare.
"Not you." Atobe retorts, not the least bit intimidated by Fuji's glare. And he fixes the Tensai with a glare himself.
"Saa… I better go back." Fuji says and closes his eyes again.
Atobe turns his back on the Tensai and resumes his search.
-o0o-
Tezuka is strolling through a trail with trees lineing each side. He marveled yet again, about hoe the park they had, really had everything. But right now the captain of Seigaku was searching for Gakuto Mukahi. He is sure that the acrobat with a dark pink and red color will be with the Golden Pair and he knows that the Golden Pair will be in the tree.
'I just have to find him.' He thought to himself while looking from side to side, determined not to let his guard down for the third time that day. A bird chirps and soon after, the rest also join in birdsong. It is one o'clock and the sun shines through the canopy dappling the ground beneath.
He stops and gazes at the tree hoping to find something out of the ordinary. Little did he know that there was a conversation going on right above him.
"Oishi, help me push Gakuto off." Eiji whispers to his friend.
"He might get hurt." Oishi replies doubtfully.
"Hey what are you guys talking about?" Gakuto whispers to them.
Eiji glare at him in return and resumes whioering to Oishi. "But we have to help Buchou and besides it is only ten feet off the ground."
"Fine," Oishi nods and the Golen Pair both pounce on Gakuto, to his surprise.
How Tezuka didn't hear them plotting is a mystery to me but suddenly, a figure falls out of the tree to land almost right on top of him.
Series of quite cheers escape from the canopy.
"Eiji!" Gakuto screams loudly before looking to the person who found him, hoping it was Atobe. It wasn't as you probably know.
"I found you, go back the oak." The Seigaku captain commanded.
Gakuto walked away, muttering about how Seigaku players don't play fair.
-o0o-
Atobe Keigo had heard the yell from Gakuto. 'So, you got caught, did you?' He thought. Quickly, Atobe ran to the spot where he heard the yell.
Tress cover the sky, letting in a fair amount of sunlight. The bird chirped and Atobe thought it was a rather pleasant day.
Suddenly, a rustle in the trees sounded and a blushing Oishi fellout.
'That was too easy,' the captain thought with pleasure.
"Oishi!"
The captain watched as a second later a red headed acrobat leapt down from the trees to his friends aid.
The both turned at the sound of a chuckle. "Ore-sama has found you!" Atobe declared triumphantly.
"Nya! That's not fair." The acrobat pouted at his unfortunate luck.
"Nya," the captain mimicked mockingly. "Ore-sama will not this one get away."
He received a glare from Eiji at that. While Oishi was dusting himself off.
"Eiji, we have to follow the rules." Oishi said to his unhappy doubles partner. Atobe smirked at this.
"Now you must go back to the woods." He stated, while tossing his hair.
"Humph," Eiji pouted while his double partner consoled him.
Not for the first time, Atobe marveled at how easy that was.
-o0o-
Tezuka looked behind boulders and trees, but he just couldn't find Yushi Oshitari. He was looking in the direction of a boulder when a Fuji apple flew over his head to land in some bushes.
"Ow!" A cry from the bushes drew the Seigaku captain's attention.
Chotaro Otori was veery uncomfortable, having given uo his previous hiding spot to Ryo. He moved again. Suddenly, a Fuji apple landed on his head. He let out and exclamation before muffling the sound, but too late. He looked up to see Tezuka Kunimitsu towering over him, his lip twitched a bit.
Tezuka help the silvery brown haired lad up.
"Heh, heh, I guess you found me Tezuka-sempai." Chotaro said sheepishly. "I'll be going now."
No reply.
Seeing how awkward the situation was about to get, the Hyotei Regular muttered a hurried "Sayonara," before walking away.
-o0o-
Atobe Keigo was having a very good day, he had found quited a few people and was sure that Tezuka was certainly not as lucky as today.
He turned around just in time to see spiky black hair and a whited t-shirt disappear behind the tree.
"97.63% that Atobe has seen me and will now call my name." The Data man mutters not so discreetly behind the tree.
"Inui, how long are you going to hide there?" The Monkey King asked oh so arrogantly.
Inui stepped out from behind the tree and straightened his glasses. He quickly fell into step beside Atobe, despite the Hyotei captain's protests. One threat about his juice and the captain's head turned green from dread and disgust.
They walked on, Ayobe looking behind every bush and Inui muttering about every bush. Soon enough, the pair spotted a whimpering from the bush and a "Fshhhhh." The bush stayed quite a moment longer and the only sound to be heard was the chattering of birds and children, and the scatching of pencil on paper.
Then, a furious barking came from the bush followed by hurried "Fshhhh's." A curse and some howls of pain followed as Atobe watched with a smile on his face at the torture some poor soul was going through.
A puppy came bursting from the bush, leaving behind a hole big enough to peak through a Koaru Kaidoh sitting and hissing angrily, with way to many scratches on him for comfort.
"I found you, Mamushi." The Hyotei captain declared, using the nickname Momo had dubbed Kaidoh with.
The Regular got up in pain and fshhhed. Only then did Atobe manage to shake the Data man off his trail, saying that Kaidoh needed his assistance.
-o0o-
Tezuka Kunimitsu sat down a bench. He had gone a couple of hours before his hunger drove him to eat. He was just taking a bite out of some sushi when a snore sounded from behind the bench.
He twisted his neck to see what awaited him only to find Ryo, the Dash Specialist snoring his head off under a bence.
It was a marvel that no one had heard him yet. And tezuka in all his modesty had to admit that this one was too easy.
-o0o-
Atobe Keigo was experiencing some technical difficulties. His good luck had waned a bit since we last saw him and he could not find anyone. He had seen neither hide nor hair of anyone of importance and wondered if all his good luck had gone to the Seigaku captain.
Not far from where Atobe sat, Taka-san was taking cover behind a bush. Some poor kid, was playing tennis nearby when a shot knocked the racket out of his hand.
Taka-san being who he is darted out of his hiding place to return the racket. Not good. As soon as he came in contact with the thing, he started yelling and screaming nothing in particular to the air.
"Burning! Atone, c'mon! Burning!" A scared mother ran and took the kid sized racket out of the Regulars hand and he was back to normal.
"Taka-san, you're out!" Atobe called with a smile, I guess his luck wasn't gone after all.
The Regular scratched his head and muttered an apology to the kid before slumping to the oak.
-o0o-
Tezuka Kumimitsu had been looking for Yushi everywhere,. This was the last person he had to find and it seemed a twist of fate that it happened to be Hyotei's resident Tensai.
He was running through the crowd, hoping to catch sight of dark blue hair or glasses.
-o0o-
Atobe Keigo was running through the same crowd Tezuka was currently running in. Luckily, he didn't crash into the other captain. For that to happen, luck would have to have completely left the world.
He was looking for Echizen Ryoma and it seemed a very cruel coincidence that while his rival was searching for the Hyotei Tensai, he was searching for the Seigaku child prodigy.
-o0o
There. A flash of dark blue hair.
-o0o-
Aha! A white Fila cap.
-o0o-
The Seigaku and Hyotei Regulars are gathered around the oak. Various arguments had started as their numbers increased and currently, Momo and Kaidoh were having a verbal battle while Eiji was arguing childishly with Gakuto and begging Oishi to help him.
They all looked up to see Echizen and Yushi walking toward them from both sides and their captains arriving soon after.
"I win." The Seigaku captain says the same time as Atobe says:
"Ore-sama wins."
At this, the two teams start arguing about who won.
"My team won." Eiji says looking arrogantly at Gakuto.
"No, my team won." The other boy retorts, and so on.
A verbal battle breaks out intense enough to rival that of Momo's and Kaidoh's.
"Enough!" Tezuka says loudly. "It is a tie." He states simply before going back to his stoic state.
"EH!?" Everyone cries in unison though I am not sure whether they were surprised at the outcome of the game or the fact that Tezuka yelled.
"Ore-sama agrees." The Hyotei captain adds.
"At this statement, an onslaught of "Oh's" and "Aww's" and a few "We should have won's" escape from everybody's mouth as they depart.
They don't get far.
"Everybody, fifty laps." Tezuka commands, annoyed at the mutterings.
Everyone is so shocked about the fact that the Seigaku captain spoke twice in less than ten minutes that they are all shocked into doing so. Even Atobe.
Seeing this, Tezuka's lips curls up in the faint trace of a smile.
The End